Manhattan
by littleblackcupcake
Summary: AU Bella Swan left Forks after high school to become a journalist. Edward gets a job at the same newspaper as Bella, but a rift forms due to his distant attitude. What happens when they end up living in the same apartment building?
1. Preface: Two Faces

Preface

_I could see two faces in my head. They were blurry at first, but as they came into focus, it was easy to tell whose they were. _

_They were mine._

_On the left was the face I saw when I looked in the mirror. His expression was patient, almost kind, if you looked at it from the right angle. His eyes were a warm butterscotch._

_On the right was the face of the monster. The eyes were pitch-black, fading into deep crimson near the edges. The lips of the monster were drawn back slightly, revealing razor-sharp teeth, and the monster's skin was drawn tight across his skull._

_Which would I choose?_

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A/N: Hey everyone,  
This is my first fanfic, and I'm pretty excited about this, so please review and/or PM me! Constructive criticism welcome!


	2. New Guy

Bella's POV

I drummed my fingers impatiently on the cold plastic keyboard as I waited for a good sentence to find its way into my head, out of the blue, as usual. It had been like this all afternoon. I had written only one sentence so far – the headline. _Come on, Bella, _I thought. _You need to get this article handed in by Friday! _

Maybe my lack of ideas had something to do with the dreary gray rain clouds that hung in the bleak Manhattan sky outside my office window, hovering there as though they were waiting for just the right person to walk outside before they let loose and filled the streets with sloshing water and wet, angry New Yorkers. I could already hear the rain pounding in my head, reminding me forcibly of the tiny Washington town where I had left my father in my rush to get away after graduating high school. I felt a wave of guilt threatening to overpower me, as I always did when I thought of Charlie, but I pushed it away and locked it behind a steel door. I was exactly where I wanted to be, in a steady job writing for the New York Post, with good friends and a nice, though small, apartment to go home to. Well, okay, maybe not exactly where I wanted to be, but since that would involve being on a beach in the South Pacific, I figured this was pretty good for the time being.

It wasn't hard, though, to see the real reason for my writer's block, which had nothing to do with the rainy weather that was typical of Manhattan in April and everything to do with the incredibly beautiful man working on an article at the desk next to mine. The new guy. What was his name again? I leaned forward slightly to read the address on the open envelope that I could see sticking out of his trashcan.

_Cullen._ And his first name was… I leaned forward a bit more… Edward. Edward Cullen. A nice enough name, I guess, though a bit out of fashion for the 21st century. Still, it sent a bit of a thrill through me just to say it in my head, which sickened me. Since when did I fall for guys on account of their looks?

To distract myself from these disturbing thoughts, all centering around my new coworker – and that was all I would think of him as, I promised myself – I tried to work on my article. When I had written enough, and answered – at length – every email in my inbox, I couldn't think of any more excuses. My mind started to wander, and I began to imagine my friends' reactions when I told them about Edward. Mike would be jealous, of course, even though nothing had happened and probably nothing would. He had never gotten over me, even though we had only gone out a couple of times at the beginning of sophomore year at NYU, almost seven years ago now. Luckily, we were still close friends, and spent as much time with each other as we did with our other friends, Jess, Angela, Jacob, and Leah.

Jessica would need to hear every detail of every word that had been said since he walked in the door at precisely 10:14 this morning. She would need to hear how he looked, how he walked, how he talked. Had he said anything to me? Was it a polite greeting between two colleagues, or something more? I grinned to myself. Jess would be Jess.

Leah would be sarcastic and make me feel like an idiot without even saying anything. That was just how Leah was. She acted like she knew everything about everyone, even if she was stumbling around in the dark blindfolded with her hands tied behind her back. The one who knew everyone better than they knew themselves was Angela. Angela would probably know exactly how I felt about him after I had said about three sentences, maybe even after three words. She would be curious, but not prying, and she wouldn't say one word about it after I'd made it clear that the subject was closed. That was one of the things I loved best about Angela – she knew when enough was enough.

Ben, Angela's fiancée, would agree with whatever Angela said. He had proposed to Angela after they had both graduated. The wedding was set for this coming June, only two months away, and Jess was to be the maid of honor. I was happy to be just a regular bridesmaid, giving me less chances to trip over my own feet, as I seemed apt to do every time I stood up. Mike would be best man, and after Jacob expressed his lack of enthusiasm for anything that included wearing a tux, Ben had asked his brothers to be the other groomsmen, and they had both readily accepted. I couldn't wait to see Jonathan again. He and I had really hit it off the last time we met. Maybe after the wedding we could go out somewhere for a coffee. Hmm….

My musings were interrupted when I felt the pen I had been absentmindedly tapping on my desk slide out of my hand and hit the floor near my left foot before rolling neatly to a stop under the desk to my left. My heart sped up involuntarily.

Edward's desk was to my left.

I took a deep breath before turning around to look at him, and for a minute I forgot what I was supposed to be asking him. I had to remind myself to exhale as I looked at the half of his face that I could see. He was even more perfect looking up close. His jaw was hard and square, his cheekbones sharp and angled, leading my gaze naturally upward. His skin was very pale, even paler than mine, but it added to the perfection somehow, making his full, round lips and reddish-brown hair stand out from his face. Jess would have called it bronze, which worked fine for me too. It was tousled, as if he had just woken up, and dangled in a mess over his perfect forehead. The look suited him somehow.

The two most beautiful things about him, though, were his eyes. They were a stunning liquid gold. For some reason, though, they looked furious, and his face was contorted into a furious grimace. His entire body had suddenly gone as rigid as a board. He couldn't be angry just because I'd dropped my pen, though. I comforted myself with that thought as I forced my mouth open and let out the words I had been holding on the tip of my tongue.

"Um, excuse m-me," I stuttered. "Edw– Mr. Cullen?" He turned slowly to face me straight on, and for the first time, I could clearly see his expression. His dazzling golden eyes were confused for a split second, then flashed to frustration before settling on pure, utter hatred.

One corner of his perfect mouth turned up in a sneer. "What is it, Miss Swan?" he asked, in a voice so drenched with scorn and hatred I almost failed to notice the musical, velvety quality of his voice. Again, I had to remind myself that breathing was necessary if I didn't want to pass out right here in front of everyone, including _him_.

"I – I just dropped my – that is, my pen fell and– never mind," I mumbled. I could feel my cheeks starting to burn with that familiar blush, and I knew it would take a while to return to my former chalky complexion. _At least I didn't faint,_ I thought. I turned quickly around, fished for a new pen in my bag, and set to work determinedly writing a page and a half of complete nonsense about the recent murders in Queens.

I could feel his eyes on my back the whole rest of the day.

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A/N: Hello again! If you're still reading, that must mean you like it, right? That, or you're waiting for me to make some big mistake so you can have an excuse for dropping the story... Either way, please leave me a review telling me what you think! ConCrit welcome!


	3. Self Control

Edward's POV

I focused on the page in front of me, trying to wipe from my mind the images that had just flashed unbidden before my eyes. I wanted to curse under my breath, but I knew that letting out even a single word would require an intake of breath, and I could not trust myself to breathe in right now. If I were to inhale that scent again… I closed my eyes, trying not to think of the consequences. Not breathing made it slightly easier to think clearly. I could still taste her scent on the back of my tongue, but it was less potent and I realized what I had been about to do. For some reason, the human female sitting to my right had moved closer. I reached out with my mind, trying to see the reason for her sudden movement. But it was as if there was no one sitting there. I frowned slightly, turning to see if my impossibly good hearing – for a human, anyway – had deceived me.

And then, before I could do anything at all, her scent filled my nostrils.

I was the vampire, and she was my prey. That was the only thought in my head.

She had the sweetest blood I'd smelled in ninety years. If only I had known that such a scent existed… I would have broken Carlisle's rules years ago.

Suddenly I was the monster I had been during my period of rebellion from Carlisle. The monster I had tried so hard to be. The monster that would, shortly, destroy each and every person in this room.

Or…or maybe _everyone_ didn't have to die. I could just lure the girl outside. Just a few words whispered in her ear… She would follow me outside, into the rain. She wouldn't think about it. One of the benefits of being a vampire was that pretty much your every command was carried out without a second thought. Perhaps it had something to do with the irresistible appeal of our inhuman beauty. Or the convincing lure of our smooth, soft voices…

NO! I yelled the words in my head. No. I couldn't do that. Not to Carlisle, not to Esme. Not to any of them. Their faces hung briefly in front of my eyes. Alice and Jasper. Rosalie and Emmett. Carlisle and Esme.

Even under the current circumstances, I noticed – not for the first time – that I was the only one without a partner. The only one not a part of a pair.

Just then, I heard a quiet voice, speaking – I believed – to me. It was very difficult, not being able to rely on the thoughts of others to gauge the situation. "Um, excuse m-me," she said, in a voice so soft it was almost a whisper. "Edw– Mr. Cullen?" Was she talking to me? It was hard to tell, what with my thoughts still on the stunning, wonderful scent of her blood.

Once again, I was hindered in my reaction time by the strange sensation of not being able to hear her thoughts. Was this how it was for the rest of them? Was it always this hard, having to rely on only the person's facial expressions and the tone of their voice?

I turned slowly toward her, trying to calm myself enough to reply in an even tone. "What is it, Miss Swan?" Even a human was bound to wonder about the strangled sound of my voice. She looked, for some reason, as though she was not breathing either. Was she even human? Was it possible for a human to smell that good? As I watched her, staring blamelessly, she started to breathe again, and her cheeks flushed. My thoughts started to spin out of control again at the easy gathering of blood in her face, and I once again imagined leading her outside. No one would notice – two raincoats wouldn't seem out of the ordinary to anyone in the midst of this gradually forming thunderstorm.

Her voice broke through my thoughts. "I – I just dropped my – that is, my pen fell and – never mind," she mumbled in that soft, quiet voice of hers. She was blushing deeply now, and it took all of my self-control to stay where I was, to not move a single muscle as she turned away, sending another blast of warm air into my face, and dug in her bag for something before turning to her computer and typing a few hundred nonsensical words that I could read, even from this distance.

It was only the image of Carlisle, fixed in my mind, which kept me from attacking her right then and there. Somehow, I managed to last through that first, painful afternoon, and into my car, where I put in the first CD I touched and turned the volume up as high as it would go.

I knew it was immature to hide from my fears, but what else could I do?

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A/N: Thanks for reading this far! Please leave me a review or PM me, good or bad!


	4. Discovery

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my wonderful reviewers, **Grassy Leaves **and **xmidnightlullaby**. If you want your name up here, leave me a review!

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Edward's POV

I parked my car in the lot outside my new apartment building. I allowed myself to take in a deep breath of cool, refreshing air. Even though by body had no need for oxygen, it was definitely a plus to have my sense of smell back again. We relied mostly on our sense of smell to find our way around, especially when we had just moved somewhere and needed to look like we fit in.

I climbed into the elevator and stood, impatiently waiting for it to rise to the fourth floor, where there was a phone I could use to call Carlisle. He would know what was going on, why the human girl's blood appealed more to me than any other creature's. There was another human in the elevator with me, a female who watched me appraisingly. I listened to her thoughts for a few moments, but they were boring, nothing original. _Ooh, a new hottie, _she thought. It wasn't an uncommon response to seeing a vampire. We were all more beautiful than humans. It helped to lure our prey, as did our scents and our musical voices. _He's going up to the same floor as me… Maybe Bella has seen him before. She could introduce us._

Bella? Wasn't that the name of the girl from the office? Isabella Swan? How could I control myself if I had to see her not only at work, but at home too? But she couldn't be here. Impossible. Manhattan was too large a city. It must be a different Bella.

I tried to distract myself from the unnerving idea that she was here, living in the same building as me. I studied my neighbor's features carefully. She was of average height, maybe five foot four, with light brown hair and green eyes, almost the same color mine had been before I was changed. _Oh. My. God! He's looking at me! _Oops. The girl had obviously interpreted my stares the wrong way.

Thankfully, the elevator doors opened then, relieving me from having to say anything to her. My relief was short-lived, though, for as soon as I stepped out into the hall, a terrifyingly familiar scent filled my nostrils. _Oh no, oh no, oh no,_ I thought in a panic.

Though I had stopped breathing the second I smelled it, the scent of her blood brought back all the impulses from a few hours ago. Nothing I had told myself in the car mattered anymore. I would have to follow the girl to Bella's apartment – she must have meant the same Bella, under the circumstances. I would ask Bella to come out into the hallway. She would follow me outside when I asked her to go for a walk.

No. I had to control myself. I would go to my apartment, call Carlisle, and get a new apartment. And a new job. I watched the girl walk to the door next to mine and fumble with her purse. "Oh, shoot," she muttered. Then the knocked on the door, pretty loudly, even for someone without my supersonic hearing. "Bella? Bella, can you hear me? I forgot my keys! Can you let me in, Bella?" She tapped her foot impatiently while she waited. I tried to unlock my door as quickly as I could while still appearing human, but it wasn't fast enough.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming," said a tired voice from inside. I was going to rush inside without seeing her, but I couldn't help myself. I heard her footsteps approaching, and a second later the lock clicked and the door swung open. Her face appeared, framed by the door. "Well, come on in, Jess, what are you waiting for?" Then she saw what Jessica was staring at. Her eyes followed the path of the other girl's and when she saw me, she jumped a little, and motioned for Jessica to follow her inside.

"What?" said her friend, not comprehending. "Hey, Bella, do you know this guy or something?" Bella's face flushed again, and I looked away. My expression must have looked disgusted. I was – with myself, with the creature I had tried so hard not to be.

"Come _on,_ Jess," she hissed, and yanked her friend's arm to get her moving. Her friend followed her, but not without first shooting a curious glance in my direction. I stood there for a minute, motionless, and then I rushed into my own apartment, shut the door, and leaned against it. I was breathing heavily, and my heart should have been beating wildly. Of course, it wasn't beating at all. It was cold and still, the way it had been since Carlisle changed me, when I was twenty-two. So many years ago now, but I could still remember the way it felt when my heart beat faster and my face got warm.

But why should I feel that way now? It was just a silly human girl. So her blood happened to smell nice. Okay, very nice. But that didn't mean I had to get all worked up over it. No human was going to chase me away. And I wasn't going to go crying to Carlisle, either. I was going to face up to the challenge. She couldn't possibly smell as inviting as I imagined. My memory was just playing tricks on me. Mean tricks.

Just then, I heard someone's voice in the background. "No. Way." It was that girl, Jessica, and she was talking loudly, even by human standards. "He _works_ _with_ _you_?" The words could have been poisonous daggers, the way they sounded. I grinned at that image, the girl standing there with knives flying out of her mouth. Her thoughts weren't much kinder, although she and Bella were obviously close friends. _Great. The one guy I could have a shot with, and Bella's going to ruin it. At least I have Mike…_I found myself wishing I knew who Mike was. Since when did I care about the petty affairs of humans, if not only to stay inconspicuous?

"Geez, Jess, could you _be_ any more supportive?" I guess I wasn't the only one to notice Jessica's unfriendly attitude when it came to competition. I felt kind of guilty for eavesdropping on them – they obviously meant it to be a private conversation – but I reasoned with myself that I _had_ to listen in, had to hear just how much this strange girl had noticed, since I couldn't simply listen to her thoughts as I did with most everyone else.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry, its just…" Jessica's voice trailed off. She obviously didn't really want to finish the sentence – out loud, at least. _It's just you're supposed to like geeks, not hot guys! This is supposed to be MY territory!_

"I don't seem the type to go for a guy just because he's hot?" Bella sounded amused. "I didn't think so either. But Edward… he's just… well, you know…" Now Bella was the one leaving sentences unfinished. I ran over the last few seconds of the conversation in my mind. Did Bella think I was hot? For some reason, I hoped so. "Well, you can have him," continued Bella, a bit wistfully. "I don't think he likes me much. Did you see the way he was glaring at me in the hall?" My heart fell. Why, why, why was I reacting like this? She was just a girl! _No reason to get worked up,_ I told myself. _No reason to get worked up._

"Oh. That's too bad," said Jessica. _Yes! This is all working out perfectly. For me, that is._ "Well, good night, Bella." Her thoughts were going wild, and I chose this moment to stop listening in. Mostly.

"Good night, Jess," said Bella. How happy I was just to hear three little words! But that couldn't be right. I couldn't even smell her from here. Why was I happy to have any form of contact? Though I didn't want to admit it to myself, partly because it was embarassing and partly because I knew it was true, I knew why I was so happy.

I knew she was a human, but it didn't matter anymore. Her scent was only part – a very, very important part – of the problem. Did Carlisle and Esme feel this way? Did Alice and Jasper? Somehow, I doubted they did. It must be a different feeling entirely for them.

Because this feeling was so rough, so strong, it threatened to overcome every feeling I had. I barely remembered the look of the other girl's face or the sound of her voice. I had forgotten why it mattered to me that I could not hear Bella's thoughts. I couldn't recall why I had thought it so important to call Carlisle

I was in love with her. I loved her, and nothing else mattered anymore.

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A/N: Ooh, things are starting to get interesting! I'll try to get the next chapter posted by tomorrow. Reviews, anyone? If you didn't like it, tell me why and I'll try to make it better! People who review get their names at the top of the next chapter! :)


	5. Dazzling

A/N: Yay! Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed – inlovewithagreeneyedangel, Soso.t.w.i.l.i.g.h., LcarbyM, ishha, Ronsart, RUTryingToIrritateMeToDeath, and meandu…Thank you all so much. I realize some people thought it was too soon for him to realize he loved her. I agree that it was sudden, but since I can't really make this a 550 page, 30 chapter novel like Twilight, I had to make some things happen a little faster than Stephenie Meyer did.

I'll start here, 'cuz I like this part:

_Edward's POV_

_"Oh. That's too bad," said Jessica. "Well, good night, Bella." Her thoughts were going wild, and I chose this moment to stop listening in. Mostly._

_"Good night, Jess," said Bella. How happy I was just to hear three little words! But that couldn't be right. I couldn't even smell her from here. Why was I happy to have any form of contact with her? Though I didn't want to admit it to myself, partly because it was embarrassing and partly because I knew it was true, I knew why I was so happy. I knew she was a human, but it didn't matter anymore. Her scent was only part – a very, very important part – of the problem._

_I was in love with her. I loved her, and nothing else mattered anymore._

Bella's POV

"Good night, Jess," I said. It wasn't that late, but I felt the need to get away from Jess and her prying questions. Sometimes I wished Angela was my roommate, instead of Jess. But Angela was living with Ben. But even though Jess and I had a sometimes-rocky friendship, it was nice to come home and have someone to talk to and get a real opinion about your problems, not the sheltered version that Angela usually gave when she was trying to protect someone.

I shut the door to my room carefully. I knew Jess would probably be staying up late, and I really didn't want her trying to convince me to be a part of it right then. I just needed some time to think things out.

Fact One: Edward worked at my newspaper office. Fact Two: He lived in my apartment building. Fact Three: He was extremely good looking, and it obviously wasn't just my opinion, if Jess thought that way too. Fact Four: He hated me. There was no other way to explain the looks he had given me, earlier at work and just a few minutes ago in the hall. All of which led to Fact Five: I was going to have to ignore him. It had taken me years to get to this level in my job, I wasn't going to let him distract me or, worse, chase me away. If anyone was going to leave, it should be him. I was there first.

I was exaggerating the situation, I knew. He wasn't going to chase me away. What reason would he have to hate me? He must have been angry for another reason last time. It had nothing to do with me.

These were the thoughts with which I reassured myself as I drifted into uneasy sleep.

I climbed the stairs to my office building warily. I was nearly soaked through from the constant downpour that I had rushed through this morning on the way to my car. I tried in vain to wring my hair out on the mat just outside the door, and then walked inside with my expression as carefully controlled as I could manage. The elevator ride up twenty-three stories seemed to pass in half a second, though I had been counting on it to give me some time to compose myself. Oh well. He was already sitting at his desk when I entered, typing away as if he hadn't a care in the world. I suspected otherwise, though, mostly based on his rigid posture and blank face.

Hmm. I guess I probably looked pretty uptight today, too. I tried to make my expression seem more natural, curving the corners of my mouth up slightly. Cora, my best work friend, stopped and leaned on my desk when she walked by.

"Hey, Bells. You feeling okay?" she asked. She sounded genuinely concerned. I was touched.

"I'm okay, Cora," I said, as normally as I could. "I'm just feeling a little under the weather today."

"All right, honey," she said, still worried, "If you need anything, you just tell me, and  
I'm there for you. You know that, right?"

"Of course," I mumbled. She cast a nervous backward glance over her shoulder as she walked in the general direction of the copy room. I was lucky to have such a good friend at work.

Around noon, I stood up, planning to head down to the little coffee shop outside our building. I wasn't really hungry, but I figured something with caffeine would help me actually get any real work done. I only had about a day and a half to get this article all typed up, and since I had all the info I needed right on my desk, all there was left for me to do was to type it into an article that the public might actually be interested in.

As I pushed my chair back under my desk and grabbed my coat – I didn't really feel like getting too wet right now – I felt a cool hand on my shoulder. I must have jumped about a foot in the air when I saw who it was.

"Excuse me," he murmured in a quiet voice, so different from the hate-filled one he had used yesterday. "I was wondering if you'd like to get a cup of coffee with me." I searched his face for malicious intentions, but all I saw was perfect sincerity. Had I imagined his reactions yesterday?

"Um…s-sure," I stuttered, completely thrown off by his sudden, perplexing change in character. "I was just going… I mean, I was getting my coat…" His golden eyes were like hypnotic whirlpools, drawing me deeper and deeper into them. "Dazzling…" I murmured in a daze, as he slid my arms into my coat and gestured for me to lead the way.

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A/N: Tee hee hee! I just love to leave you hanging! Aren't I mean? Sorry for the short chapter. I'll try to update soon, but I do have other commitments, such as eating and sleeping. Leave me reviews and I'll try to write faster! Drama coming soon, I promise!


	6. Invitation

_Bella's POV_

"_Excuse me," he murmured in a quiet voice, "I was wondering if you'd like to get a cup of coffee with me." His golden eyes were like hypnotic whirlpools, drawing me deeper and deeper into them. "Dazzling…" I murmured in a daze, as he slid my arms into my coat and gestured for me to lead the way. _

Bella's POV:

_I must be dreaming,_ I thought to myself as Edward pushed me gently in front of him down the stairs. The only other option I could think of was that I was hearing voices _and _seeing things, which was not an encouraging thought.

Unless, maybe, just maybe… I had been wrong yesterday. Maybe his hate hadn't been directed at me at all. He could have just been having a hard time adjusting to his new job. I remembered having trouble when I first started working here and everyone else knew each other, everyone had friends they went out to dinner with, with no room for outsiders. It was kind of like moving to a new town when you were fifteen. High school all over again – not something most people would really want to experience twice.

He held the door open for me, and we walked together into the rain pounding down on the city.

"Where to?" he inquired softly. It took me a moment to form an answer in my head, and another to get the words out in the right order.

"There's a Starbucks right across the street," I said, "Or Dean and Deluca's a couple blocks away, but it's raining so hard…" I trailed off. "Starbucks is good," I decided.

"Okay," he said, and since it wasn't a busy street, we ran straight across. Luckily I was able to keep my balance on the slippery road.

I pulled open the big glass door, and the warmth from inside hit me in the face. I breathed in deeply, smelling the coffee beans. I was already more awake.

As Rihanna's voice singing the final chords of Umbrella faded into the background, Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown took her place over the noise of honking car horns and baristas shouting orders.

_Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air? _

_Can't live, can't breathe with no air _

_That's how I feel whenever you ain't there _

_There's no air, no air_

Edward's face suddenly scrunched into a frown, his teeth clenching together tightly. Great. Now he looked exactly the same as he had looked yesterday. Did I smell bad, or something? It was kind of insulting. I had done nothing except agree to accompany him to get a cup of coffee.

I walked, a little too quickly, over to stand in line at the counter. Now I really wanted to get my coffee and get out of here.

_So how do you expect me, to live alone with just me? _

'_Cause my world revolves around you _

_It's so hard for me to breathe _

_Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air?_

"Tall decaf latte," he said. We were at the front of the line. I had hardly noticed it moving.

Suddenly, I noticed Edward staring at me. I tried to remember what had been said. Was I supposed to be answering a question?

Oh. She wanted my drink order. "Uh… I'll have a tall frappachino," I said tentatively. They both seemed satisfied, though.

"Will that be cash or credit, sir?" she said in a thick Spanish accent. Edward said nothing, but he slipped a black credit card onto the counter. She reached for it, and for the first time, she looked up at us, her expression both surprised and scrutinizing as she examined our faces… well, mostly his face. I blushed anyway, turning, bright red and looking down at my sneakered feet. I could do with a new pair of sneakers. These were pretty beat-up from running all over the city trying to get interviews with aloof, stand-off-y New Yorkers.

The barista handed us our drinks, and we squeezed between a pair of green velvet-covered armchairs on our way to the only unoccupied seats in the whole place, at a tiny table near a giant fireplace. I sat carefully on one of the chairs.

I sipped my frappachino, trying to look casual. "So, was there something specific you wanted to talk about, or is this just completely spontaneous?"

He looked up from his coffee cup. "No," he said, "There was something I wanted to ask you." I waited patiently for his request, but he merely stirred his coffee.

"What did you want to ask me?" I said softly, a bit afraid of the answer.

"I was wondering if you would go to see a show with me this Saturday," he said, so quietly and quickly that I was unsure of his exact words.

"M-me go… see a show with… you?" I stuttered the words in complete amazement. Now this I had not seen coming.

He looked deep into my eyes. "Yes. Is that so hard to believe?" His voice was little more than a whisper now. "Please, Bella?" His golden eyes smouldered.

"Yes, of course," I whispered. I looked away. Why did he have this affect on me? It was insane.

I didn't bother looking at his expression as we walked back to the office building, but I was sure it was smug. The rain had let up a bit, but the sky was still covered in a layer of gray and white clouds. Not the puffy kind you see on a summer evening in the country, more like someone had covered the city in a big, furry blanket, obscuring the sun and its warmth.

As I rode the subway home after work, I tried to organize my thoughts into a few sentences I could tell Jess and Angela. We were going out to dinner tonight, and usually they were the ones sharing gossip, and I was the one sitting there giggling at my friends' stories. Not tonight. Tonight, all ears would be on me, and I wasn't looking forward to it one bit.

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A/N: Okay, here it is! If you want another chapter, leave me reviews! Like it? Hate it? Tell me why! Nothing like a long, rambling review to get me writing another chapter! Oh, and if you notice any spelling and/or grammar mistakes, please point them out! Thanks!


	7. Unexpected

A/N: Oh My God.... I am so so sorry that this chapter took me so long to post. It took me a long time to write and get it the way I wanted it, but I think I like the way it turned out. Just so you know, it changes a ton from the beginning until the end. Plus I've been preoccupied these past few nights watching the election skits on Saturday Night Live. If you haven't watched them, try to find them on the internet, they are really really funny and they most likely won't show them again since the election ends tonight. The polls actually close in five minutes... well, here in Massachusetts anyway... So I'm going to cut this short and turn on the tv. Oh, and also I'd like to give a big THANK YOU to my friends, especially Sheryl and Muriel, for helping me talk about where I wanted my story to go. Thanks you guys you rock! And don't forget to **REVIEW****, **everyone!! Thanks!!!

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Bella's POV

"So," said Jess. "Spill!" Our girls' night had moved from a restaurant to a bar. I was not a big fan of bars, with their constant flow of drunk guys trying to hit on you and waitresses wearing their tight tank tops with the fronts cut down to there. We didn't go out that often, just the four of us girls, so I was willing to put up with it, but when the other girls got tipsy, I was planning to sneak out. The rest of them had had a drink or two, and Jess had decided it was time for the gossiping to start.

"What exactly do you guys want to know?" I asked, in a lame attempt to stall their questioning. I twirled the cherry stem from my first drink, which still sat untouched on the table. I never was a big drinker.

"Absolutely every single detail," said Leah, leaning in with a conspiratorial look on her face. I was surprised – Leah almost never took this much interest in my romance life, most likely since I'd been with about three guys in my life, including Mike.

I sent a pleading look towards Angela, but she focused on something just over my left shoulder. I could tell she was trying not to giggle at my helplessness.

"How about you ask questions, and I'll answer them," I suggested. At least that way I could get away with talking less.

Jess sighed. "Bella. Do you want to do this the easy way, or the hard way?" I looked at her incredulously. Her words were slurred together slightly, but only enough for someone to notice if they were really paying attention.

"The hard wa-" I began, but she talked right over me.

"At least give us something to work with. All we know now is his name and that he works with you," said Angela. I stared at her. She looked back and smiled a tiny smile, a bit guiltily.

"You're siding with them too?" I asked her. Now she was really smiling.

"Come on, Bella, just have some fun tonight. You never let yourself have any fun," she begged. "Just talk to us. So we know his name. What else can you tell us?"

"Um, well," I said intelligently while I tried to think of some small detail I could let slip without regretting it for the rest of my living days. "He lives near me," I said finally, conveniently forgetting to mention just how near me he lived. "And…" I struggled as Leah and Angela exchanged excited glances at this new information. Jess, of course, already knew, but thank god, she was too far gone to remember that she did. "Oh, and I think he has multiple personality disorder," I blurted out. Oops. I had not meant to say that out loud.

"What?" asked Angela, looking confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh," I said, cursing myself internally, "It's nothing, it's just that he looked really angry at me when we first met, and now he asked me to go to a show with him…" I trailed off. Oops. Why did I keep slipping up? It was only giving them more ammunition. The only good thing about this was they wouldn't remember anything I said in the morning.

"You're going to see a show together," said Leah, a bit skeptically. "What show are you seeing?" She sounded almost like she thought I was lying, like she was challenging me.

"We… We haven't decided yet," I mumbled. Leaving was seeming more and more like the perfect plan. But how to do it?

"Ooh! You guys should go see Hairspray!" squealed Jessica excitedly. "That is the best show for couples!" She seemed to have forgotten her jealousy, for which I was grateful. It wasn't like there _was_ any thing going on between us, and it didn't help me out much to have my best girlfriend mad at me. Frankly, I would rather be discussing Edward with Mike, Ben and Jacob. Well, maybe just Ben and Jacob. They, at least, wouldn't jump to silly conclusions within a matter of seconds, and maybe they could even help me understand his behavior.

With the amount the girls had already had to drink – Jess was finishing up her third glass now, or was it her fourth? – I felt pretty good about sneaking out. They could finish the discussion without me, anyway, for Jess and Leah had gone on to discuss whether Hairspray was a 'girl show' or gender-impartial. I just stood up and walked out, I don't think they even noticed I was gone.

A couple of guys were standing just outside the door, but I wasn't in any mood for games. "Out of my way," I said, a bit irritably, which was probably a mistake.

"Hey sugar, whatcha got cooking?" asked one of them, moving closer to me. His words were terribly slurred, and his eyes glazed over as he stared into the night over my shoulder.

"Excuse me," I said, trying to dodge around the confident guy towards my truck, but he sidestepped in front of me, blocking me.

I was getting kind of nervous now, as the men continued to advance on me. I took another step backwards and felt my foot connect with the brick wall behind me. Why didn't any of the people standing by the door notice anything? The bouncer couldn't have been more than twenty feet away, but he was apparently completely oblivious of the drama unfolding right behind him. I guess most of his attention was absorbed by the busty blonde whose ID he was checking, or rather, pretending to check while he checked out something else. Or maybe two other things.

I saw something silver flash at the side of the front man as he took another step towards me. I was sucking in a deep breath, getting ready to scream if need be, when I saw him behind the men. Not the bouncer, someone who was considerably younger and paler, and had an expression of great fury on his face. He held one finger to his lips and melted into the darkness. Though only a moment earlier I had been close to hyperventilation, I felt more relaxed now than I had since sitting down at the bar this evening. Somehow, I knew he would help me.

My calm must have been visible, for the man who was approaching paused to leer at me. "Excited, sugar?" he whispered, and I shook under his gaze. What was Edward doing? If he didn't hurry up… I didn't want to think about it.

As these disturbing thoughts infiltrated my mind, I felt a cold hand on my wrist, yanking me hard. I stumbled, and I felt my feet leave the ground. I kept my eyes shut tight as he ran, carrying me across the parking lot.

When the air around me was calm again, I decided it would be okay to open my eyes. I did so, noting with surprise that we were nowhere near the bar. We were actually only a few blocks away from my – and now his – apartment building. He set me gently on my feet outside a tall building, which looked sinister in the glow of the city lights.

"What are we doing here?" I asked softly. Relief washed over me now that I was away from the drunken men, but I still had many questions I needed answered.

"It's quiet," he replied. His voice was so quiet I had to strain to hear it, and it was shaking, not with fear, as mine ought to have been, but with anger. Indeed, his whole body quivered as he turned abruptly and walked in the direction of our building. My hurried footfalls as I struggled to keep his brisk pace were much louder than his, resounding in the empty street so each step I took seemed louder than that of an elephant.

"Edward," I said, falling into step next to him, "What's wrong?" His hands were balled into fists, his face twisted into an expression which was, if possible, even angrier than the one he had worn on the day we met.

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Talk, please," he commanded, his velvet voice contorted in rage. "Just until I calm down," he amended.

"Um," I said hesitantly, "I'm going to shoot Jess – she's my roommate – as soon as she's sober?" My voice arched up at the end, making it into a question.

"What?" He opened his eyes in confusion. "Why?" he asked, and he seemed genuinely concerned for Jessica. As if I could do her any real damage.

"Because," I explained, "She thinks that you and I are – to put it in her own words – a couple, and she felt the need to proclaim it to every person we both know." I shook my head at the memory. "Jess has… well, to put it nicely, a mind of her own." I suddenly realized what he might have heard in my words, and was worried that he would have gotten the wrong message. "Not that, you know, we can't be a couple. If you wanted to be," I finished awkwardly, concentrating on not tripping on the uneven bricks under my feet.

I heard his footsteps stop completely now. "Bella," he said. I turned around and nearly stumbled when I saw how close he was. Our faces couldn't have been an inch apart, and I could feel his breath on my face as he reached up and very carefully, almost hesitantly, cupped my face in his hands. An electric shock ran through me at his touch. I wondered what he felt, if he felt anything. "Is this too fast?" he whispered. His eyes smoldered into mine and I caught my breath. By way of answering, I stood on my tiptoes and closed the gap between us.

At first he was surprised, but he adjusted quickly and kissed me back. His hard, cold lips pressed into mine, molding them gently to his. The kiss was soft and sweet and made me feel beautiful and undeserving of him all at once. He pulled away much sooner than I would have liked, and I realized I was breathing heavily, as was he. His hands didn't leave my face when his lips did, but instead stayed there and stroked lightly along my jaw.

After we had been standing there for what seemed like hours, but could have been only minutes or even several seconds, I took a step backward and whispered, so quietly that even I could hardly hear it, "Thank you." Then I turned around and walked quietly in the direction of our building. If he had had any inclination to stop me, he surely could have, but he let his hand hang there in midair and didn't move to follow me as I walked away.


	8. Questions

Edward Cullen

My hand hung in the air for a moment as I watched Bella – _my Bella, _I thought,_ my beautiful Bella –_ walk away. I knew, as she surely did too, that I could easily have stopped her from leaving. But I let her go, not wanting to overestimate my self-control.

For a long time, I just stood there, staring after her. What had just happened? I barely knew Bella, and yet the last two minutes with her had meant more than the hundred or so years I had spent without her. She had said "thank you." What did that mean? Could she possibly feel even close to the same way about me? The wind shifted a little, blowing the scent of a middle-aged man toward me, and I glanced upward. _Shit_. The man was across the street, staring at me, most likely thinking I was a drunk from the bar. To make things worse, the sun was starting to rise above the tall buildings. Time to go. I raced around the corner to my conveniently located car, yanked open the silver door, and had the key in the ignition and the car speeding in the opposite route from the one Bella had taken before I slammed the door behind me.

I slid my cell phone form my back pocket and dialed Alice's number with trembling fingers.

With each ring of the phone, I grew more anxious until at last, I heard a voice on the other end. "Hello, Edward," came Jasper's voice, sounding extremely annoyed. I was confused for a moment, and tried to pick up Alice's thoughts from this far away. Then I wished I hadn't. I didn't really like to think of Jasper that way. He was like a brother to me.

"Hey, Jasper," I said through gritted teeth as I sped through a red light. It wasn't like I was going to get in trouble, at the crack of dawn with no police for five miles. "I need to come stay at your place," I added. I could tell he was about to ask a question, but he changed his mind.

"Okay," he sighed, "You know where we live. But give us a couple of minutes if you expect us to be there to greet you."

The ride over to Alice and Jasper's red brick townhouse only took about four minutes, due to both the sheer speed of my car and to the urgency with which I was driving. I didn't want to spend too long in the car. Driving was second nature to me, and had was simply a source of unoccupied time, in which my mind could wander and I could think about unpleasant things, such as my own stupidity.

I stomped on the brake with my Volvo half on the sidewalk, half in the mud puddle that garnished the sides of all city streets. Not bothering to right it, I ran to the door, so fast that any watching humans would have seen only a pale blur, and tapped lightly on the brown door. A few moments later, it swung inward, and I paused for a fraction of a second to nod to Jasper in my haste to talk to Alice.

"Edward," he called after me, but I was already halfway up the stairs, and had no intention of slowing.

I burst through the door of their bedroom. The sight of the hot pink walls and lime-colored linens would most likely have shocked anyone not a part of our family, but I was used to them by now. As with most other things in Alice and Jasper's relationship, Alice had had her way with the decorating.

I took a deep breath and pounded on the door of her closet. "I need to talk to you _now_, Alice," I shouted. I heard Jasper's heavy footsteps as he hurried after me, and soon felt a wave of calm flood over my senses, stopping me for a second before I pushed it away impatiently. There would be time to be calm later; right now, I needed my answers.

I stood impatiently outside the door, the pink paint of which remained flawless, even after the years that they had lived here. I could, of course, break down the door and force my way in, but I really didn't want to get Alice in a bad mood, and destroying the place where she kept her clothing was a sure way to do that. Her thoughts weren't giving me anything, other than the terrifyingly important – to her – question of whether to wear a skirt or pants. I sighed and started pounding again. "Alice!"

The door flew open. "I'm coming, I'm coming," she said exasperatedly, ducking under my arm and darting over to the mirror on the back wall, where she touched her hair and, apparently deciding she was presentable, turned back to face us. "I know you have questions, Edward, but we have all day, so could you please try to calm down a bit? You're exhausting Jasper."

I glanced over at him, and he did look frustrated. "Sorry," I muttered, and I did make an effort to relax. It didn't work. "What did she tell you?" I demanded of him.

"Nothing," he said defensively. "Except that you'd be coming over," he added. "What's going on?" he asked, placing one hand on my arm. I was calmed again for a moment, the moment that it took to process his question, and then I started to get worked up again.

"Alice, what have you seen?" I asked forcefully, trying to jerk my arm away from Jasper, who held tight.

Alice perched worriedly on the end of the bed. "You can let him go, Jasper. He's not going to do anything." Jasper, somewhat reluctantly, relaxed his grip on my forearm, and took a step back towards the wall, which he leaned against.

Although all I really wanted right then was to hit someone, that wouldn't make Alice any less likely to withhold information from me. "Please, Alice," I said, as calmly as I could, though my voice shook. "Just tell me what will happen to her."

Alice turned to Jasper. "Edward met a human girl." Jasper's eyes widened; whether in shock or understanding, I couldn't tell, but that wasn't really my big worry right now.

"I'm getting to it," she said, before I could complain again. "Listen, Edward. She's not going to die." But there was a funny look in her eye as she said this. "She's not going to die," she repeated, more firmly. "She and I will be great friends, too. Like sisters," she continued, and I felt as if she was hiding something from me.

"Alice, when you say she's not going to die… do you mean something else is going to happen to her?"

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A/N: I can already see the reviews: WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN??? Well, it's kind of a long story. But the main thing is, I'm REALLY sorry about the long wait. I know this is a short chapter (sorry again!) but I'm going to post the next one tomorrow and the one after that on Wednesday, if I can get to a computer. Okay? And as usual.. reviews will make me write faster!


	9. Run

Edward Cullen

"Edward…" Alice hesitated.

"Come on, Alice," I growled. "I'm a big boy. Just tell me what you saw." If only she would hurry up. I needed to see Bella again. I was suddenly sure that I should never have left her side after last night. She didn't know about us yet, but who knew what could happen to her. After all, we weren't the only vampires in Manhattan.

"All right. All right," she seemed to steady herself. "She's going to be one of us. And soon." A shudder ran through me. _No…not her. Not Bella._

"Bella? Is that her name?" That was Jasper. I hadn't realized that I had said the last part aloud. Alice shushed him, but I was already thinking of other things. Such as how I would have to avoid Bella forever.

"How does it happen?" I asked, my voice inexplicably calm.

Alice seemed to realize something. "There's nothing you can do about it, Edward. You bite her—"

"I'll have to leave the city," I said, almost to myself. "And I just got here too. No matter; I'll find a new place."

"Edward. _Listen._ You bite her to save her. She gets attacked by others." Alice placed a hand on my arm, trying to placate me, but it didn't work. Her explanation only made me feel more tense and guilty.

"Others?"

"You do realize we're not the only ones of our kind in the city."

"You know what I meant," I growled. "Why do they bite her?"

"They think she'll reveal what they – what we – are. They think that since she's close to you, you would have told her the truth. So you see, this will happen whether or not you tell her. And I really think that you should tell her." Alice was doing her best to make me feel like it wasn't my fault, but it wasn't working.

My voice barely more than a whisper, I asked her the only question I could think of at the moment. "When will they come?"

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Bella Swan

As I nearly bounced out of my apartment the following morning, I stopped outside Edward's door for a moment and rang the bell. I stood and waited for a minute before deciding that he must have already left for work. The thought of seeing his beautiful green eyes smiling at me as I entered the office cheered me, and I slid into my car with more enthusiasm than usual.

I turned on the car stereo. The song that came on sounded vaguely familiar, and I remembered liking it a lot.

_I have I have you _

_Breathing down my neck breathing down my neck_

_I don't don't know what you could possibly expect under this condition _

_So I'll wait I'll wait for the ambulance to come ambulance to come_

_Pick us up off the floor_

_What did you possibly expect under this condition so_

_Slow down _

_This night's a perfect shade of_

_Dark blue dark blue_

_Have you ever been alone in a crowded room when I'm here with you_

_I said the world could be burning burning down_

_Dark blue dark blue_

_Have you ever been alone in a crowded room well I'm here with you_

_I said the world could be burning 'til there's nothing but dark blue_

_Just dark blue_

Even after the song had ended and Coldplay had come on, I kept trying to figure out where I had heard the song. It finally came to me as I slid into the parking lot at my office: Jacob had made me a mix CD with that song on it, along with several other love-oriented songs. Maybe he was trying to tell me something with it, but I didn't think so. Jacob and I are just friends, and have been for years. He knows my hopes, dreams, and deepest secrets, and I know his. That's how it's always been with us. He's the one I really talk to about important things, not Jess.

I had made it almost to the door of the building when it happened. On my left, I saw, or rather sensed, two people walking toward me, their footsteps heavy and very intimidating. From my right, I heard Edward, yelling at me to run.

Even though I had only known Edward for a few days, I already knew I would trust him with my life. I turned away from the building and ran back toward my car. The few people watching from the sidewalk looked minimally interested, but kept walking purposefully. It was New York City, after all.

I felt Edward's footsteps impossibly close behind mine. He came up behind me and guided me to the passenger side of the car, climbed in the driver's seat himself, and reached for the keys. The men from the sidewalk had disappeared, but Edward didn't relax at all.

"What's going on? Who were those men?" I demanded. None of what had just happened made sense to me, or clicked at all with what I had seen so far of Edward. Suddenly I wasn't sure that I had done the right thing in leaping into the car with him. I may have trusted him enormously, but my better judgment hadn't always been right.

"Bella, those weren't men," Edward stated simply, his fingers clutching the steering wheel hard.

I was confused. "Oh… I thought they were men. Who were those women, then?"

The corners of his mouth seemed to almost curl up, like he was trying to smile. "No, Bella, you don't understand. They were male. They just weren't human."

--

Edward Cullen

"What's going on? Who were those men?" She was flushed, not in embarrassment but in fear. I couldn't handle looking at her, so I looked straight ahead, and held tight to the wheel.

"Bella, those weren't men," I said, keeping my voice as steady as I could. This wasn't at all how I had planned on telling her, but I didn't see much choice now. She deserved to know _exactly_ what she was running from.

"Oh… I thought they were men. Who were those women, then?" She sounded so sweet and innocent, I had to smile. But it was hardly a smile, anxious as I was for what I was about to tell her.

"No, Bella, you don't understand. They were male," I added, trying not to sound condescending, "they just weren't human."

She kept looking forward for a minute – as long as it took for her to process what I had just said – then turned to me and grabbed my arm, forcing me to look away from the road and toward her. "Bella, I'm driving," I said.

"What on _earth_ do you mean, they weren't human?" She was whispering, sounding as though she was speaking to a mental patient. "Of course they were human," she reasoned, "what else would they be? Ghosts? Witches?"

I could already tell that she thought I was crazy. I could see her judge the distance we were from the side of the road, as if she planned to jump.

"Not witches. Vampires."

The silence echoed around the car for a minute that could have been an hour. It wasn't a comfortable silence, either.

"Please pull the car over."

"Bella, please, just listen to me. I swear I'm telling the truth. They were vampires, bad ones."

"What, you mean to say there are good and bad vampires now?" Her voice shook; she sounded almost angry now. "Please, just pull over – there's a gas station."

"There are good and bad vampires, Bella. The ones that were following you, those were the bad ones. Or, well, some of them, anyway. The good ones…" I hesitated, but I knew I had to tell her now, before she was lost to me forever. "That's where I come in."

"What are you talking about?" She had a terrible look on her face, and she wouldn't meet my eyes, but I could hear a hint of belief in her voice, and I clung to that.

"My family and I… We're not human. We're vampires."

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A/N: Oooh, how will Bella react to _that_? You'll just have to wait and see! By the way, the song used in the chapter is Dark Blue by Jack's Mannequin. Really good song. You should listen to it :) Okay, now people, on to a more serious issue. I had a hundred and two views on the last chapter, and only TWO of them actually left reviews. So I decided that (even though I already have the next chapter written) **I'm not going to post again until I have 10 new reviews**, or a total of 42. I know a lot of people skip over authors' notes, assuming that they're not directed at them. I do it too. But this note is directed toward YOU!! YES, YOU!! Now please, hit that little green button and leave a review. Come on...


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